Kalimat, PCCW ink USD25m IPTV, mobile TV deal

According to ArabianBusiness, Iraqi fixed-wireless operator Kalimat Telecom has signed a USD25 million contract with Hong Kong-based operator PCCW to launch internet protocol television (IPTV) and mobile TV services in Iraq and Kuwait. Under the deal, PCCW will run the operation and provide the content, while Kalimat will provide carrier services. The service will offer various TV channels, video-on-demand (VoD) and music-on-demand (MoD) and is set to go live in the fourth quarter of 2009 or early 2010.

CEO of Kalimat, Wilson Varghese, said: ‘Iraq now depends mostly on satellite channels so we thought this would be a good jump to a very professional IPTV service, with a wider choice for customers in their living rooms and on their mobile devices.’ He added that the company is aiming to attract 600,000 subscribers within the first two years of operations.

The report also states that Kalimat has entered a deal with an unnamed Iraqi GSM operator, enabling the latter to offer its subscribers access to Kalimat’s fixed-wireless service as part of a bundle, to be launched next month. Subscribers will be able to use a dual-sim handset to access the unnamed cellco’s GSM mobile services, with the option to switch to lower-cost fixed services and international calls using Kalimat’s CDMA operation. The GSM operator will also be able to offer its subscribers 4G services via Kalimat’s network, including mobile TV.